Amid criticism and concerns over Grok, xAI's chatbot developed by Elon Musk, recently Grok was misused to create provocative images of children and women based on user prompts on platform X, sparking widespread criticism about the AI's inappropriate behavior.
Elon Musk’s AI startup xAI, developer of the Grok chatbot, successfully raised over $20 billion in its Series E funding round in early January. Beyond advancing the company’s AI development, this valuation is expected to increase Musk’s wealth by $62 to $122 billion from his 49% stake in xAI, with Forbes projecting it could make him the first person worldwide to reach $800 billion in net worth.
Grok is an AI chatbot that Elon Musk integrated with X in March 2025, enabling X users to generate images instantly through prompts. In early January, coinciding with the latest funding round, Grok was used inappropriately.
.One userA 31-year-old woman expressed frustration and concern after her image—depicting her in a red dress lying on a bed with her cat, posted by her partner on X during New Year's—was altered by other users via Grok to show her in a bikini, which Grok immediately generated.
Reuters later reported that images of women being undressed and manipulated, as well as inappropriate alterations of children’s images, were circulated, prompting calls for X to investigate and for legal action, as these acts were considered sexual harassment of women and children.
Shortly afterward, the official Grok account posted onXthat the issue was under review and urgent action was underway, though inappropriate image generation commands continued to be issued.
In this Series E funding round, xAI aimed to raise $15 billion but secured $20 billion instead. Investors included Valor Equity Partners, Stepstone Group, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Qatar Investment Authority, MGX, Baron Capital Group, and key strategic partners such as NVIDIA and Cisco Investments.
xAI stated that 2025 was a pivotal year driving business growth amid the global surge in AI interest. The company expanded data center projects and succeeded in building the world's largest AI supercomputer, advancing Grok’s language model, voice features, image generation, and X platform integration, which increased user numbers.
Additionally, alongside Grok’s emerging issues and substantial fundraising, a significant development emerged: the U.S. military plans to deploy Grok within Pentagon networks as part of its AI strategy focusing on innovation, bureaucratic restructuring, and increased investment.
xAI’s latest fundraising occurs amid intense AI competition and heavy spending. Bloomberg reports that xAI spent $7.8 billion in cash during the first nine months of 2024, reflecting escalating funding pressures from the intensifying AI race.
Elon Musk has continuously set new records as the first billionaire to achieve unprecedented wealth milestones. In October last year, he became the first person in history with a net worth of $500 billion after Tesla’s stock nearly doubled in five months following his reduced role at the DOGE ministry.
On 15 December, Musk set a new record as the first individual with a $600 billion net worth after SpaceX’s valuation rose to $800 billion, up from $400 billion in August.
Just four days later, Musk achieved another record, reaching $700 billion in net worth—the first in history—after Delaware’s Supreme Court overturned a lower court ruling that had invalidated Tesla stock option packages now valued at $126 billion.
It is expected that xAI’s new funding round could make Musk the first person to surpass $800 billion in net worth amid ongoing global criticism.
Follow the Facebook page Thairath Money at this link -https://www.facebook.com/ThairathMoney